Sunday, 26 February 2012

First Post..

Hello,

and welcome to my blog for my personal project!

At
the beginning of the year, I faced the tough challenge of starting a completely
different lifestyle, the tough leap of moving schools to the Mount Scopus
Memorial College. When I started my first day, I was confronted by my Homeroom
teacher (mech) about starting my personal project and if there was anything
specific that I would like to do before the two term deadline.

Knowing
what my friends were trying to do for their projects; writing cookbooks, making daily planners,
online fantasy football teams, I wanted to give myself a ‘proper challenge’
which will keep me enthused for the whole two terms. Thinking deeply for about
two whole days, I came to the conclusion that I would want to build my own custom
racing bike frame, a frame that I could actually use to ride on, not just hang
up upon the wall for decooration.

Ever
since I’ve started riding, I’ve always wanted to manufacture and build my own
personal bike, just for me; something that I can ride and just enjoy. The idea
of building a bike was inspired by many custom bike brands such as, Baum,
Parlee, Moots and most of all, my lovely boss, Vince.

When
thinking about what type of bike to build, I thought to myself, what could I
build? Inspired by one of my co-workers and ex coach, I decided that I would
want to build a cyclocross racer.

Cyclocross
is a type of cycling that is very popular in Europe and in the United States. Although
cyclocross is very uncommon in Australia, it is slowly growing with the immergence
of small races all around the nation.

The
differences between a road bike and a cyclocross bike confuse many people. The main
differences between the two is that a cyclocross bike is a bike that can be
ridden on the road, as well as riding on dirt tracks due to the large clearances
and thicker, knobbier tires.

Completing this humongous feat will not
only be extremely difficult, but it will also require a whole lot of concentration
and hours to complete.

my aims for the bike and the project are:
frame under 1900g.
bike under 10kilograms.
finish by due date.
race on it in a competitive event.